U.S. patent application number 14/349816 was filed with the patent office on 2014-08-28 for sheet conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus.
The applicant listed for this patent is CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA. Invention is credited to Takuya Keino, Tomooku Koyama, Junichi Ochi, Hiroharu Tsuji, Masatoshi Yoshida.
Application Number | 20140239580 14/349816 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47471968 |
Filed Date | 2014-08-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140239580 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yoshida; Masatoshi ; et
al. |
August 28, 2014 |
SHEET CONVEYING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
Abstract
Provided is a sheet conveying apparatus including: a pair of
rollers which includes an upper roller and a lower roller and
conveys a sheet in a nipping manner; a driving unit which
independently drives the upper roller and the lower roller; a
conveying unit which is disposed at the upstream of the pair of
rollers in the sheet conveying direction and conveys the sheet to
the pair of rollers; an overlapping unit which is provided between
the pair of rollers and the conveying unit and overlaps a
subsequent sheet on a precedent sheet in the conveying direction;
and a control unit which controls the driving unit, wherein the
control unit controls the driving unit so that: the upper roller
and the lower roller are driven before a leading end of the
precedent sheet conveyed by the conveying unit reaches the pair of
rollers and the driving of the upper roller and the lower roller is
stopped before a tail end of the precedent sheet passes the pair of
rollers; the pair of rollers is driven again before a leading end
of the subsequent sheet conveyed by the conveying unit and
overlapped on the precedent sheet nipped by the pair of rollers
reaches the pair of rollers and only the upper roller is driven so
as to convey the subsequent sheet to the downstream in the
conveying direction after the leading end of the subsequent sheet
conveyed by the conveying unit reaches the pair of rollers; and the
upper roller and the lower roller are driven so as to convey the
precedent sheet and the subsequent sheet overlapped on the
precedent sheet to the downstream in the conveying direction.
Inventors: |
Yoshida; Masatoshi;
(Susono-shi, JP) ; Tsuji; Hiroharu; (Numazu-shi,
JP) ; Koyama; Tomooku; (Suntou-gun, JP) ;
Keino; Takuya; (Mishima-shi, JP) ; Ochi; Junichi;
(Mishima-shi, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA |
Tokyo |
|
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
47471968 |
Appl. No.: |
14/349816 |
Filed: |
December 4, 2012 |
PCT Filed: |
December 4, 2012 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2012/007765 |
371 Date: |
April 4, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/245 ;
271/265.01; 271/272 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 2220/09 20130101;
B65H 29/125 20130101; B65H 2404/14 20130101; B65H 2513/40 20130101;
B65H 2404/16 20130101; B65H 5/068 20130101; B65H 2511/20 20130101;
B65H 2511/22 20130101; B65H 2404/14 20130101; B65H 2511/20
20130101; G03G 15/6529 20130101; B65H 9/004 20130101; B65H
2301/4213 20130101; B65H 7/06 20130101; B42B 4/00 20130101; B65H
2511/22 20130101; B65H 2513/40 20130101; G03G 15/6573 20130101;
B65H 2220/01 20130101; B65H 2220/02 20130101; B65H 2220/02
20130101; B65H 2220/09 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/245 ;
271/272; 271/265.01 |
International
Class: |
B65H 7/06 20060101
B65H007/06; B65H 9/00 20060101 B65H009/00; B65H 5/06 20060101
B65H005/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 9, 2011 |
JP |
2011-270098 |
Claims
1. A sheet conveying apparatus comprising: a pair of rollers which
includes an upper roller and a lower roller and conveys a sheet in
a nipping manner; a driving unit which independently drives the
upper roller and the lower roller; a conveying unit which is
disposed at the upstream of the pair of rollers in the sheet
conveying direction and conveys the sheet to the pair of rollers;
an overlapping unit which is provided between the pair of rollers
and the conveying unit and overlaps a subsequent sheet on a
precedent sheet in the conveying direction; and a control unit
which controls the driving unit, wherein the control unit controls
the driving unit so that: the upper roller and the lower roller are
driven before the leading end of the precedent sheet conveyed by
the conveying unit reaches the pair of rollers and the driving of
the upper roller and the lower roller is stopped before the tail
end of the precedent sheet passes the pair of rollers; the pair of
rollers is driven again before the leading end of the subsequent
sheet conveyed by the conveying unit and overlapped on the
precedent sheet nipped by the pair of rollers reaches the pair of
rollers and only the upper roller is driven so as to convey the
subsequent sheet to the downstream in the conveying direction after
the leading end of the subsequent sheet conveyed by the conveying
unit reaches the pair of rollers; and the upper roller and the
lower roller are driven so as to convey the precedent sheet and the
subsequent sheet overlapped on the precedent sheet to the
downstream in the conveying direction.
2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
control unit conveys the sheets in a overlapped state while the
leading end of the precedent sheet advances by a predetermined
amount to the downstream in the conveying direction in relation to
the leading end of the subsequent sheet when driving the upper
roller and the lower roller after the subsequent sheet is conveyed
by driving the upper roller.
3. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 2, further
comprising: a sheet post-processing unit that includes a stacking
portion which temporarily stacks the sheets thereon so as to align
the sheets, a reference wall which is provided in the stacking
portion as a reference for aligning the sheets in the conveying
direction, and an aligning unit which is disposed at the downstream
of the reference wall in the conveying direction, abuts the sheets
from the upper side, and conveys the sheets to the reference wall
so as to align the sheets, wherein the pair of rollers is disposed
at the upstream of the sheet post-processing unit in the sheet
conveying direction.
4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
control unit conveys the sheets in an overlapped state while the
precedent sheet advances by a predetermined amount to the
downstream in the sheet conveying direction in relation to the
subsequent sheet when driving the pair of rollers after the
subsequent sheet is conveyed by driving the upper roller.
5. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 4, a sheet
post-processing unit that includes a stacking portion which
temporarily stacks the sheets thereon so as to align the sheets, a
reference wall which is provided in the stacking portion as a
reference for aligning the sheets in the sheet conveying direction,
and an aligning unit which is disposed at the downstream of the
reference wall in the sheet conveying direction, moves downward
from the upper side so as to abut the sheets, and conveys the
sheets to the reference wall so as to align the sheets, wherein the
pair of rollers is disposed at the downstream of the sheet
post-processing unit in the sheet conveying direction.
6. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further
comprising: a detecting unit which is disposed at the upstream of
the pair of rollers in the sheet conveying direction and detects
the sheets, wherein the control unit controls the driving unit
based on a detection result of the detecting unit.
7. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
overlapping unit includes a step which is formed in a conveying
path between the conveying unit and the pair of rollers, and
wherein the subsequent sheet conveyed by the conveying unit is
overlapped on the precedent sheet on the step.
8. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit
which forms an image; and the sheet conveying apparatus according
to claim 1.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus
conveying two sheets in an overlapped state and an image forming
apparatus having the same.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] In an existing sheet post-processing device with a
post-processing unit such as a stapler, a subsequent sheet may not
be received during the execution of sheet post-processing of a
precedent sheet since it takes time for the sheet post-processing
such as aligning and stapling. In order to solve this problem,
there is known a configuration in which the sheet post-processing
time of the precedent sheet is ensured by conveying sheets while a
predetermined number of subsequent sheets conveyed during the sheet
post-processing of the precedent sheet are overlapped on each
other.
[0005] As an apparatus that conveys sheets in an overlapped state,
there is known a conveying apparatus disclosed in, for example,
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-152253. The sheet conveying
apparatus includes two pairs of rollers having different
circumferential velocities. Here, when a sheet is nipped between a
large-diameter roller having a slow circumferential velocity and a
pinching roller, the leading end of the subsequent sheet sent from
the roller having a fast circumferential velocity enters between
the precedent sheet and the large-diameter roller.
[0006] More specifically, the apparatus has the following
configuration. A sheet which is conveyed fast by a conveying roller
decreases in speed to an intermediate speed in a speed decreasing
region existing at the downstream region in relation to a position
facing the conveying roller. When the sheet is further conveyed in
an intermediate conveying portion, the leading end of the sheet
contacts the large-diameter roller having a slow circumferential
velocity so that the leading end is drawn thereto. The subsequent
sheet also decreases in speed in this way and catches up the
precedent sheet. At this time, the precedent sheet is nipped
between the large-diameter roller and the pinching roller and
largely turns along the peripheral surface of the large-diameter
roller, so that the tail end separates from the roller and jumps
along the outer shape of the large-diameter roller. For this
reason, the leading end of the subsequent sheet enters between the
tail end of the precedent sheet and the large-diameter roller, so
that the sheets may be conveyed in a overlapped state.
[0007] However, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent
Laid-Open No. 10-152253, the shift amount of two sheets may not be
stabilized when the gap between the sheets changes due to a
variation in the sheet feeding timing because of the configuration
in which the sheets are overlapped on each other while being
shifted in the conveying direction using the speed reduction
mechanism. When there is a reference wall which is provided at the
downstream and serves as a reference for aligning the sheets in the
conveying direction upon conveying two overlapped sheets, two
sheets are overlapped on each other in a shifted state so that the
precedent sheet advances in the conveying direction in relation to
the subsequent sheet and hence the downstream end in the conveying
direction of the precedent sheet as the lower sheet of the two
sheets first abuts the reference wall. After the downstream end in
the conveying direction of the precedent sheet shifted in this way
abuts the reference wall, the subsequent sheet as the upper sheet
slides on the precedent sheet and abuts the reference wall, so that
two sheets are completely aligned in the conveying direction. At
this time, if the shift amount of two sheets increases, even when
the lower precedent sheet first abuts the reference wall, the upper
subsequent sheet stops without reaching the reference wall, and
hence there is a problem in that an aligning failure of the sheet
occurs.
[0008] FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conveying
direction aligning portion of the sheet post-processing device.
Referring to FIG. 10, a mechanism will be specifically described in
which an aligning failure occurs in the sheet post-processing
device at the downstream of a sheet overlapping device when there
is a variation in the shift amount of two sheets. The sheet
overlapping device is disposed at the upstream of the sheet
post-processing device, and the subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed
from the image forming apparatus body to the sheet post-processing
device so that post-processing such as stapling is performed while
the subsequent sheet S2 advances with a shift amount in the
conveying direction L in relation to the precedent sheet S1.
[0009] Subsequently, when a leading end of a conveying direction
aligning portion 306 existing at the downstream of an aligning
reference wall 317 moves downward from the upper side so as to abut
the sheets on an intermediate stacking portion 303, two sheets
which are conveyed to the intermediate stacking portion 303 collide
with the aligning reference wall 317 so that the sheets are
aligned.
[0010] Here, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, a case is assumed in which
the distance between the tail end of the precedent sheet S1 and the
aligning reference wall 317 is denoted by A and the distance
between the tail end of the subsequent sheet S2 and the rotation
center of the conveying direction aligning portion 306 is denoted
by B during or before the aligning operation. In this case, it is
desirable to satisfy the relation of A=B with high precision as
much as possible so as to suppress the aligning failure.
[0011] If a variation in the shift amount of two sheets satisfies
the relation of A>B before the aligning operation, the tail end
of the subsequent sheet S2 is involved into the nip of the
conveying direction aligning portion 306 before the tail end of the
precedent sheet S1 reaches the aligning reference wall 317 as
illustrated in FIG. 10B during the aligning operation. For this
reason, two sheets S1 and S2 are simultaneously nipped in the
conveying direction aligning portion 306. In this case, since the
conveying direction aligning portion 306 abuts the subsequent sheet
S2 from the upper side in a condition in which the friction
coefficient between the intermediate stacking portion 303 and the
sheet S1 is higher than the friction coefficient between the sheets
S1 and S2, only the subsequent sheet S2 is aligned. Accordingly,
the tail end of the precedent sheet S1 may not reach the aligning
reference wall 317 even when the aligning operation ends, and the
sheet bundle takes a posture in which the precedent sheet S1
advances in relation to the subsequent sheet S2 in the conveying
direction L, thereby causing the aligning failure of the precedent
sheet S1.
[0012] Further, if a variation in the shift amount of two sheets
satisfies the relation of A<B before the aligning operation, the
tail end of the subsequent sheet S2 may not reach the conveying
direction aligning portion 306 when the tail end of the precedent
sheet S1 reaches the aligning reference wall 317 as illustrated in
FIG. 10C during the aligning operation. Accordingly, the tail end
of the subsequent sheet S2 may not reach the aligning reference
wall 317 even when the aligning operation ends, and the subsequent
sheet S2 advances in relation to the precedent sheet S1 in the
conveying direction L, thereby causing the aligning failure of the
subsequent sheet S2.
[0013] The invention is made in view of the above-described
circumstances, and it is desirable to provide a sheet conveying
apparatus capable of controlling a shift amount of sheets with high
precision even when there is a variation in the shift amount
between a precedent sheet and a subsequent sheet which are being
conveyed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Provided is a sheet conveying apparatus including: a pair of
rollers which includes an upper roller and a lower roller and
conveys a sheet in a nipping manner; a driving unit which
independently drives the upper roller and the lower roller; a
conveying unit which is disposed at the upstream of the pair of
rollers in the sheet conveying direction and conveys the sheet to
the pair of rollers; a overlapping unit which is provided between
the pair of rollers and the conveying unit and overlaps a
subsequent sheet on a precedent sheet in the conveying direction;
and a control unit which controls the driving unit, wherein the
control unit controls the driving unit so that: the upper roller
and the lower roller are driven before a leading end of the
precedent sheet conveyed by the conveying unit reaches the pair of
rollers and the driving of the upper roller and the lower roller is
stopped before a tail end of the precedent sheet passes the pair of
rollers; the pair of rollers is driven again before a leading end
of the subsequent sheet conveyed by the conveying unit and
overlapped on the precedent sheet nipped by the pair of rollers
reaches the pair of rollers and only the upper roller is driven so
as to convey the subsequent sheet to the downstream in the
conveying direction after the leading end of the subsequent sheet
conveyed by the conveying unit reaches the pair of rollers; and the
upper roller and the lower roller are driven so as to convey the
precedent sheet and the subsequent sheet overlapped on the
precedent sheet to the downstream in the conveying direction.
[0015] According to the invention, even when there are diverse
shift amounts between the precedent sheet and the subsequent sheet
which are being conveyed, it is possible to control the shift
amount of the sheet with high precision.
[0016] Further features of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments
with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first
embodiment of the invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of a sheet post-processing device.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of
a driving system of a pair of second conveying rollers.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an upper portion of an apparatus body.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of the upper portion of the apparatus body.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of the upper portion of the apparatus body.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relation
between forces applied to a sheet.
[0024] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of a sheet conveying apparatus according to a second
embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an upper portion of an apparatus body.
[0026] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an aligning portion in the conveying direction of
a sheet post-processing device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0027] Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the invention will be
exemplarily described in detail based on the embodiments by
referring to the drawings. Here, since the dimension, the material,
the shape, the relative position, and the like of the constituent
described in the embodiments are appropriately modified by the
configuration or various conditions of the apparatus according to
the invention, the scope of the invention is not limited thereto as
long as there is no particular description.
First Embodiment
[0028] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an image forming apparatus 900 according to a
first embodiment of the invention. The image forming apparatus 900
is an image forming apparatus which uses an electrophotographic
image forming process. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image forming
apparatus 900 includes an image forming apparatus body
(hereinafter, simply referred to as an "apparatus body") 100, an
image reading unit 200 which is disposed above the apparatus body
100, and a sheet post-processing device 300 which serves as a
"sheet post-processing unit" connected to the side surface of the
apparatus body 100. The apparatus body 100 includes therein an
image forming process unit 107 which serves as an "image forming
unit" for forming an image. The image forming unit includes a
photosensitive drum 108 which serves as an "image bearing member",
a transfer roller which serves as a "transfer device", and the
like.
[0029] The image reading unit 200 reads out information described
on an original. The sheet post-processing device 300 receives a
sheet S discharged from the apparatus body 100 and selectively
performs a predetermined process such as stapling on the sheet
S.
[0030] An outline of the apparatus body 100 will be described. The
apparatus body 100 conveys a plurality of sheets S stacked on a
sheet cassette 102 while being separated one by one by a feeding
roller 104 and a separation conveying roller 105 and conveys the
sheet to the image forming process unit 107 along a conveying guide
106.
[0031] The image forming process unit 107 is an image forming unit
which forms an image (a toner image) by an electrophotographic
system. Specifically, a laser scanner 109 forms an image by
irradiating light to the charged photosensitive drum 108, develops
the image by using a toner, and transfers the toner image onto the
sheet. The sheet onto which the toner image is transferred from the
photosensitive drum 108 is conveyed to a fixing unit 110, and heat
and pressure are applied thereto so as to fix the image.
[0032] A pair of post-fixing conveying rollers 111, a discharge
sensor 112, a sheet conveying path 113, a pair of first conveying
rollers 114, a pair of second conveying rollers 115, a pair of
third conveying rollers 116, and a pair of discharge rollers 119
are provided. The pair of second conveying rollers 115 as a "pair
of rollers" includes an upper roller 115a and a lower roller 115b,
and the upper roller 115a and the lower roller 115b are configured
to be driven independently (see FIG. 4). Further, the pair of first
conveying rollers 114 as the "conveying unit" is a pair of rollers
which is disposed at the upstream of the pair of second conveying
rollers 115 in the conveying direction L and conveys the sheet to
the pair of second conveying rollers 115. As an example of a
configuration in which the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b
are driven independently, an electromagnetic clutch is used
herein.
[0033] Further, the friction coefficient between the sheet S and
the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b is set to be larger than
the friction coefficient between the sheets. For this reason, in a
case where only the upper roller 115a is driven while two sheets S
are nipped between the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b, only
one upper sheet S contacting the upper roller 115a is conveyed
since the friction coefficient between the upper roller 115a and
the sheet S is larger than the friction coefficient between the
sheets S.
[0034] The sheet S having an image fixed thereto is conveyed to the
pair of post-fixing conveying rollers 111. The conveyed sheet S
passes the discharge sensor 112, and is conveyed to the sheet
conveying path 113. In a case where the sheets S are directly
discharged without being overlapped on each other, the sheets S are
sequentially conveyed by the pair of first conveying rollers 114,
the pair of second conveying rollers 115, and the pair of third
conveying rollers 116. Then, the sheet S is discharged to the
outside of the apparatus body 100 by the pair of discharge rollers
119, and the sheet S is delivered to the sheet post-processing
device 300. A specific mechanism for overlapping the sheets S on
each other will be described later.
[0035] The image reading unit 200 includes a scanner unit 201 and
an automatic original feeding unit (hereinafter, referred to as an
ADF) 202. The ADF 202 feeds a plurality of originals stacked on an
original stack tray 203 while being separated one by one by a
feeding roller 204 so that the original passes an original reading
position 205 where an optical carriage 207 of the scanner unit 201
stops. Further, the ADF 202 may be opened or closed backward about
a hinge (not illustrated) in rear of the apparatus, and is opened
or closed when placing the original on an original base plate glass
206.
[0036] The controller 50 as the "control unit" controls the driving
of the units or various members inside the apparatus body 100.
Further, a controller 51 as a "control unit" controls the driving
of the rollers or various members inside the image reading unit
200. In addition, a controller 52 as a "control unit" controls the
driving of the rollers or various members inside the sheet
post-processing device 300. The controller 50 transmits and
receives various signals to and from the controller 51 and the
controller 52, so that the controllers are interlocked with each
other. Furthermore, the controller 50 may directly control the
driving of the apparatus body 100, the image reading unit 200, and
the sheet post-processing device 300 without the controller 51 or
the controller 52.
[0037] Further, a driving mechanism U (see FIG. 3) as a driving
unit to be described later is configured to independently drive the
upper roller 115a and the lower roller 115b (see FIG. 4). The
controller 51 is configured to control the driving mechanism. Then,
although it will be described later, the driving timing is
controlled so that a subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed to the
downstream in the conveying direction L while being overlapped on a
precedent sheet S1.
[0038] The apparatus body 100 includes therein a discharge sensor
112 as a "detecting unit" which is disposed at the upstream of the
pair of second conveying rollers 115 in the conveying direction L
(hereinafter, simply referred to as a "conveying direction L") and
detects the position of the sheet. The controller 51 independently
controls the driving timing of the pair of second conveying rollers
115 based on the detection result of the discharge sensor 112.
[0039] The scanner unit 201 includes a movable optical carriage
207, and reads out information described on the original. The
scanner unit 201 reads out the information described on the
original while the optical carriage 207 scans the original placed
on the original base plate glass 206 in a horizontal direction, and
photo-electrically converts the information by the CCD. Further,
when reading out the original by the ADF 202, the optical carriage
207 stops at the original reading position 205 as described above
and reads out the information described on the original which is
being conveyed.
[0040] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of the sheet post-processing device 300. Referring to
FIG. 2, the sheet post-processing device 300 will be described. In
FIG. 2, a part of the constituents are not illustrated in order to
easily understand the configuration. The sheet post-processing
device 300 includes a first conveying path 301, a pair of first
conveying rollers 302, an intermediate stacking portion 303, a pair
of first discharge rollers 304, and a first stack tray 305.
[0041] Further, the sheet post-processing device 300 includes a
"conveying direction aligning unit" 306 which aligns the sheets S
in the sheet conveying direction (hereinafter, simply referred to
as a "conveying direction L"). Further, the sheet post-processing
device 300 includes a "width direction aligning unit" 307 which
aligns the sheets S in the sheet width direction (hereinafter,
simply referred to as a "width direction M"). The sheet
post-processing device 300 includes a full load detection flag 308.
The sheet post-processing device 300 includes a stapler which is
provided at one end of the intermediate stacking portion 303.
[0042] When discharging the sheet S to the first stack tray 305,
the leading end of the first switching member 309 is held at the
upper side in the drawing. The sheet S which is conveyed by the
pair of discharge rollers 119 of the apparatus body 100 passes the
first conveying path 301, and is discharged to the first stack tray
305 by the pair of first discharge rollers 304.
[0043] Further, when post-processing the sheets S, the pair of
first discharge rollers 304 separates from each other, the sheets S
are aligned by the conveying direction aligning portion 306 and the
width direction aligning portion 307 while the lower surface of the
sheet S is held by the intermediate stacking portion 303 and the
width direction aligning portion 307. After post-processing a sheet
bundle by a stapler after a predetermined number of sheets are
aligned, the sheet bundle is discharged to the first stack tray 305
by being nipped by the pair of first discharge rollers 304.
[0044] In addition, the sheet post-processing device 300 includes a
second conveying path 316, a third conveying path 310, a second
switching member 311, a second stack tray 312, a third stack tray
313, a pair of second discharge rollers 314, and a pair of third
discharge rollers 315.
[0045] When discharging the sheet S to the second stack tray 312,
the leading end of the first switching member 309 is positioned at
the lower side in the drawing and the leading end of the second
switching member 311 is positioned at the upper side in the
drawing. The sheet S passes the second conveying path 316, and is
discharged onto the second stack tray 312 by the pair of second
discharge rollers 314.
[0046] When discharging the sheet S to the third stack tray 313,
the leading end of the first switching member 309 is held at the
lower side in the drawing and the leading end of the second
switching member 311 is held at the lower side in the drawing. The
sheet S passes the third conveying path 310, and is discharged onto
the third stack tray 313 by the pair of third discharge rollers
315.
[0047] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of
the driving mechanism U (the driving unit) of the pair of second
conveying rollers 115. Referring to FIG. 3, a mechanism for
independently driving the upper roller 115a and the lower roller
115b of the pair of second conveying rollers 115 will be described.
A motor 120, a first idler gear 121, an electromagnetic clutch gear
122, a second idler gear 123, an upper roller gear 124, a driving
transmission shaft 125, a driving transmission gear 126, a lower
roller gear 127, and an electromagnetic clutch 128 are
provided.
[0048] When driving only the upper roller 115a, the current to the
electromagnetic clutch 128 is turned to off. With this
configuration, the driving force of the motor 120 is transmitted to
the electromagnetic clutch gear 122 through the first idler gear
121, but since the electromagnetic clutch 128 is turned off, the
driving force is not transmitted to the driving transmission shaft
125, thus the driving transmission shaft 125 does not rotate. For
this reason, the driving force is not transmitted to the lower
roller gear 127, and the driving force is transmitted to only the
second idler gear 123 and the upper roller gear 124, so that only
the upper roller 115a rotates. In this way, by turning off the
current to the electromagnetic clutch 128, only the upper roller
115a may be driven.
[0049] When driving the upper roller 115a and the lower roller
115b, the current to the electromagnetic clutch 128 is turned on.
With this configuration, the driving force of the motor 120 is also
transmitted to the driving transmission shaft 125, so that the
lower roller 115b rotates through the driving transmission gear 126
and the lower roller gear 127. At this time, since the driving
force of the motor 120 is also transmitted to the upper roller 115a
through the first idler gear 121, the electromagnetic clutch gear
122, the second idler gear 123, and the upper roller gear 124, the
upper roller 115a also rotates simultaneously with the lower roller
115b. In this way, by turning on the current to the electromagnetic
clutch 128, it is possible to drive both the upper roller 115a and
the lower roller 115b.
[0050] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an upper portion (a sheet conveying apparatus 600)
of the apparatus body 100. Referring to FIG. 4, a mechanism for
overlapping the sheets S on each other inside the apparatus body
100 will be described in detail. The operation diagrams in which
the precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2 coming out of
the pair of post-fixing conveying rollers 111 are overlapped on
each other are arranged in time series. Furthermore, here, in any
one of the precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2, the
leading end of the sheet indicates the downstream end in the
conveying direction L, and the tail end of the sheet indicates the
upstream end in the conveying direction L. Further, the expression
of the "driving of the pair of rollers" indicates the case where
two rollers constituting the pair of rollers are both driven, and
the expression of the "driving of a roller of the pair of rollers"
indicates the case where one of the two rollers constituting the
pair of rollers is driven.
[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the precedent sheet S1 which
comes out of the fixing unit 110 is conveyed to the sheet conveying
path 113 by the pair of post-fixing conveying rollers 111 and the
pair of first conveying rollers 114. The position of the precedent
sheet S1 is calculated by the controller 51 based on the
information detected by the discharge sensor 112. The controller 51
controls the driving of the pair of second conveying rollers 115
based on the calculation. The upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b
of the pair of second conveying rollers 115 are driven before the
leading end of the precedent sheet S1 reaches the pair of second
conveying rollers 115.
[0052] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the precedent sheet
S1 is conveyed by the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the
pair of second conveying rollers 115 even after the tail end of the
precedent sheet S1 comes out of the pair of first conveying rollers
114. Then, the controller 51 stops the driving of the upper and
lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second conveying rollers
115 before the tail end of the precedent sheet S1 comes out of the
pair of second conveying rollers 115. Then, the precedent sheet S1
temporarily stops at a position indicated in FIG. 4B in accordance
with the stop of the driving. The stop position of the precedent
sheet S1 is controlled based on the information detected by the
discharge sensor 112.
[0053] Here, the pair of third conveying rollers 116 is a pair of
rollers which is provided for a case where a small-size sheet is
conveyed, where the pair of rollers forms a nip therebetween when
conveying a small-size sheet, but the pair of rollers are kept
separated from each other when conveying a large-size sheet. In the
embodiment, the pair or rollers separates from each other in an
entire time since the large-size sheet is conveyed.
[0054] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 4C, the subsequent
sheet S2 comes out of the fixing unit 110, and is conveyed to the
sheet conveying path 113 by the pair of post-fixing conveying
rollers 111 and the pair of first conveying rollers 114. An
appropriate step X is formed in the sheet conveying path 113 so as
to prevent a case where the conveyed subsequent sheet S2 goes under
the temporarily stopped precedent sheet S1 or collides with the
tail end of the precedent sheet S1 to thereby cause a jam. By using
the step X, the submarine movement or the jam of the subsequent
sheet S2 is prevented, and hence the subsequent sheet S2 may be
reliably overlapped on the precedent sheet S1.
[0055] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the subsequent
sheet S2 is continuously conveyed by the pair of post-fixing
conveying rollers 111 and the pair of first conveying rollers 114.
Then, the controller 51 performs a control so that the stopped
upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second
conveying rollers 115 are driven again before the leading end of
the subsequent sheet S2 reaches the pair of second conveying
rollers 115. The case before the leading end of the subsequent
sheet S2 reaches the pair of second conveying rollers 115 indicates
the case where the position of the subsequent sheet S2 becomes the
position of the sheet S illustrated in FIG. 5A. Furthermore, the
position of the subsequent sheet S2 is also calculated based on the
information detected by the discharge sensor 112 as in the position
of the precedent sheet S1.
[0056] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the temporarily
stopped precedent sheet S1 is conveyed again in the conveying
direction L by the driving of the upper and lower rollers 115a and
115b of the pair of second conveying rollers 115. The subsequent
sheet S2 is also conveyed along with the precedent sheet S1, and
the leading end of the subsequent sheet S2 is nipped between the
upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second
conveying rollers 115. After the nipping, the control is switched
so that the driving of the lower roller 115b is stopped and only
the upper roller 115a is driven. By this control, the precedent
sheet S1 temporarily stops at a position in which the sheet
advances from the initially stopped position by a predetermined
amount .alpha..
[0057] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, the controller 51
drives the upper roller 115a while stopping the driving of the
lower roller 115b among the pair of second conveying rollers 115
after the leading end of the subsequent sheet S2 is nipped by the
pair of second conveying rollers 115. For this reason, the
precedent sheet S1 keeps on stopping at a position in which the
sheet advances by a predetermined amount .alpha., and only the
subsequent sheet S2 is continuously conveyed in the conveying
direction L.
[0058] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, the subsequent
sheet S2 is conveyed by the driving of the upper roller 115a until
the subsequent sheet S2 advances by a predetermined amount (a shift
amount .beta.) toward the downstream in the conveying direction L
in relation to the precedent sheet S1.
[0059] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, both the upper and
lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second conveying rollers
115 are driven by resuming the driving of the lower roller 115b.
Accordingly, two sheets are conveyed together while the precedent
sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2 ensure the shift amount .beta.
therebetween. Subsequently, the sheets are discharged from the
apparatus body 100 by the pair of discharge rollers 119 and are
delivered to the sheet post-processing device 300.
[0060] The controller 51 conveys the sheets in a overlapped state
while the subsequent sheet S2 advances by the predetermined amount
(the shift amount .beta.) in the conveying direction L in relation
to the precedent sheet S1 when driving the pair of second conveying
rollers 115 after the subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed by a
predetermined amount through the driving of only the upper roller
115a. The positions of the sheets S1 and S2 are controlled based on
the information detected by the discharge sensor 112 positioned at
the upstream of the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b which are
independently driven at the upper and lower positions, and the
shift amount .beta. is formed by stopping the precedent sheet S1
once. For this reason, it is possible to improve the precision of
the shift amount .beta.. Further, the driving control for both the
upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second
conveying rollers 115 is effective for controlling the shift amount
.beta. with high precision.
[0061] FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relation
between forces applied to the sheet. If only the upper roller 115a
is driven when the subsequent sheet S2 enters the nip of the pair
of second conveying rollers 115 as in FIG. 7B, a force F1 for
conveying the precedent sheet S1 in the conveying direction L is
exerted on the upper surface of the stopped precedent sheet S1 by
the upper roller 115a. Then, a friction force F2 which is exerted
with respect to the lower roller 115b in a direction opposite to
that of the force F1 is generated at the lower surface of the
stopped precedent sheet S1.
[0062] When the force F1 for conveying the precedent sheet S1 by
the driving of the upper roller 115a is larger than the friction
force F2, the precedent sheet S1 moves in the conveying direction L
and the movement of the precedent sheet S1 becomes unstable.
Therefore, it is difficult to control the shift amount with high
precision. Accordingly, when the subsequent sheet S2 enters the nip
of the pair of second conveying rollers 115, the precedent sheet S1
is also conveyed by a predetermined amount along with the
subsequent sheet S2 by driving both the upper and lower rollers
115a and 115b. Accordingly, it is possible to control the shift
amount .beta. with high precision. Subsequently, two sheets S which
are overlapped on each other while the subsequent sheet S2 advances
by the shift amount .beta. in the conveying direction L in relation
to the precedent sheet S1 are aligned inside the sheet
post-processing device 300.
[0063] Here, referring to FIG. 10, the inside of the apparatus body
100 will be described further. Inside the apparatus body 100, the
intermediate stacking portion 303, the aligning reference wall 317,
and the conveying direction aligning portion 306 are arranged.
Furthermore, the pair of second conveying rollers 115 is disposed
at the upstream of the sheet post-processing device 300 in the
conveying direction L. The intermediate stacking portion 303 as the
"stacking portion" is a plate-like portion (a frame) which
temporarily stacks the sheets thereon so as to align the sheets.
The aligning reference wall 317 is a wall which is provided in a
direction substantially perpendicular to the intermediate stacking
portion 303 so as to be used as a reference for aligning the sheets
in the conveying direction L. The conveying direction aligning
portion 306 as the "aligning unit" is a member which is disposed at
the downstream of the aligning reference wall 317 in the conveying
direction L, moves downward from the upper side so as to abut the
sheets, and rotates and conveys the sheets to the aligning
reference wall 317 so as to align the sheets.
[0064] Here, a case is assumed in which the distance between the
tail end of the precedent sheet S1 and the aligning reference wall
317 is denoted by A and the distance between the tail end of the
subsequent sheet S2 and the conveying direction aligning portion
306 is denoted by B. In this case, the position of the conveying
direction aligning portion 306 needs to satisfy a relation of A=B
as much as possible so as to prevent an aligning failure as
described above before starting the aligning operation (see FIG.
10A). For this reason, the aligning failure is controlled by
setting the position of the conveying direction aligning portion
306 and the shift amount .beta. so as to satisfy the relation of
A=B.
[0065] Regarding two sheets S1 and S2 which are conveyed by the
intermediate stacking portion 303, the tail ends of the sheets S
collide with the aligning reference wall 317 by the conveying
direction aligning portion 306, so that the sheets S1 and S2 are
first aligned in the conveying direction L. Subsequently, the side
ends of the sheets are pressed by the width direction aligning
portion 307 (see FIG. 2), so that the sheets are aligned in the
width direction M. The aligning operation of the conveying
direction L and the aligning operation of the width direction M are
repeated as many as the number of sheets of the subsequent jobs,
and after a predetermined number of sheets are aligned, the sheet
bundle undergoes the post-processing by the stapler. The sheet
bundle having been subjected to the post-processing is nipped by
the pair of first discharge rollers 304. Then, the sheet bundle is
conveyed by the pair of first discharge rollers 304 and is
discharged to the first stack tray 305 (see FIG. 2).
[0066] Here, returning to FIG. 7, the reason why the subsequent
sheet S2 is not conveyed by the driving of only the upper roller
115a, but the subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed by the driving of
both the upper roller 115a and the lower roller 115b when the
position of the subsequent sheet S2 becomes the position of the
sheet S illustrated in FIG. 5A will be described.
[0067] As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the precedent sheet S1 which is
conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow is nipped by the
upper roller 115a and the lower roller 115b which are independently
driven at the upper and lower positions, and the driving of the
upper roller 115a and the lower roller 115b stops before the tail
end of the precedent sheet S1 comes out of the nip of the pair of
rollers. Accordingly, the precedent sheet S1 stops at a
predetermined position.
[0068] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the subsequent
sheet S2 is conveyed, and the driving of only the upper roller 115a
is resumed so as to convey only the subsequent sheet S2 immediately
before the subsequent sheet S2 is nipped by the upper roller 115a
and the lower roller 115b which are independently driven at the
upper and lower positions. Then, only the subsequent sheet S2 is
conveyed by driving only the upper roller 115a until the subsequent
sheet S2 advances by the shift amount .beta. in the conveying
direction L in relation to the precedent sheet S1.
[0069] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 7C, the driving of the
lower roller 115b is resumed at a time point at which the shift
amount .beta. is formed, so that the driving of both rollers is
resumed. Accordingly, a configuration is adopted in which two
sheets are conveyed together while the shift amount .beta. is
formed between the precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet
S2.
[0070] However, in FIG. 7B, the force F1 for conveying the
precedent sheet S1 in the conveying direction L by the upper roller
115a is exerted on the upper surface of the stopped precedent sheet
S1 when the subsequent sheet S2 enters the nip of the rollers.
Accordingly, the friction force F2 which is exerted with respect to
the lower roller 115b in a direction opposite to that of the force
F1 is generated at the lower surface of the stopped precedent sheet
S1. For this reason, when the force F1 for conveying the precedent
sheet S1 by the driving of the upper roller 115a is larger than the
friction force F2, the precedent sheet S1 moves in the conveying
direction L, so that the movement of the precedent sheet S1 becomes
unstable. For this reason, it is difficult to control the shift
amount .beta. with high precision.
[0071] With the above-described reason, in the embodiment, when the
position of the subsequent sheet S2 becomes the position of the
sheet S illustrated in FIG. 5B, the subsequent sheet S2 is not
conveyed by the driving of only the upper roller 115a, but the
subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed by the driving of both the upper
roller 115a and the lower roller 115b.
[0072] Furthermore, in the embodiment, since the pair of second
conveying rollers 115 having the upper and lower rollers 115a and
115b which are independently driven is provided inside the sheet
conveying path 113, it is possible to buffer the precedent sheet
S1. When it is possible to buffer the first page of the subsequent
jobs upon subjecting the discharged sheets S to post-processing
such as stapling, it is possible to solve a problem in which the
productivity is degraded compared to the case where the sheets are
simply discharged.
Second Embodiment
[0073] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of a sheet conveying apparatus 700 according to a
second embodiment, and referring to FIG. 8, a mechanism for
overlapping the sheets S on each other inside an apparatus body 800
as an "image forming apparatus body" will be described. Here, the
operation diagrams of conveying the precedent sheet S1 and the
subsequent sheet S2 coming out of the pair of post-fixing conveying
rollers 111 in a overlapped state are arranged in time series. FIG.
9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sheet
post-processing mechanism 400 as a "sheet post-processing unit",
and referring to FIG. 9, a mechanism for aligning the sheets S
inside the apparatus body 800 will be described. Even here, the
operations of aligning the precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent
sheet S2 are arranged in time series. Regarding the same
configurations as those of the first embodiment, the description
thereof will not be repeated by giving the same reference numerals
thereto. Further, since the sheet conveying apparatus 700 is
assembled in the image forming apparatus 900 of the first
embodiment, the description of the image forming apparatus will not
be also repeated herein.
[0074] The second embodiment is particularly different from the
first embodiment in the following points. The controller 50 conveys
the precedent sheet S1 so that the precedent sheet advances by a
predetermined amount (a shift amount .gamma.) to the downstream in
the conveying direction L in relation to the subsequent sheet S2
upon driving the pair of second conveying rollers 115 after the
subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed by a predetermined amount by the
driving of the upper roller 115a. Furthermore, the driving control
of the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second
conveying rollers 115 is performed as in the control of the first
embodiment up to the description of FIG. 5C of the first
embodiment.
[0075] As illustrated in FIG. 8A, since the driving of the lower
roller 115b stops and only the upper roller 115a is driven, the
precedent sheet S1 keeps on stopping at a position where the
precedent sheet advances by a predetermined amount .alpha., and
only the subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed in the conveying direction
L. Then, only the subsequent sheet S2 is conveyed by driving only
the upper roller 115a until the precedent sheet S1 advances by the
shift amount .gamma. in the conveying direction L in relation to
the subsequent sheet S2. Then, the driving of the lower roller 115b
is resumed at a time point in which the shift amount .gamma. is
formed.
[0076] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, since the driving
of the lower roller 115b is resumed, the precedent sheet S1 and the
subsequent sheet S2 are conveyed by the driving of both the upper
and lower rollers 115a and 115b of the pair of second conveying
rollers 115 while the shift amount .gamma. is formed between two
sheets. Subsequently, the sheets are discharged from the apparatus
body 100 by the pair of discharge rollers 119, and are delivered to
the sheet post-processing device 300.
[0077] Subsequently, two sheets S which are overlapped on each
other while the precedent sheet S1 advances by the shift amount
.gamma. in the conveying direction L in relation to the subsequent
sheet S2 are aligned by a sheet post-processing mechanism 400 which
is provided as a downstream reference inside the apparatus body
100.
[0078] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a
configuration of an upper portion of the apparatus body 800. As
illustrated in FIG. 9A, the sheet post-processing mechanism 400
includes an aligning reference wall 402 which serves as a
"reference wall" and a conveying direction aligning portion 401
which serves as an "aligning unit". Here, a case is assumed in
which the distance between the leading end of the precedent sheet
S1 and the aligning reference wall 402 in the conveying direction L
is denoted by C and the distance between the leading end of the
subsequent sheet S2 and the conveying direction aligning portion
401 is denoted by D. In this case, it is desirable to set the
position of the conveying direction aligning portion 401 that
performs the aligning operation in the conveying direction L so as
to satisfy the relation of C=D with high precision as much as
possible so that an aligning failure is suppressed before the
aligning operation starts. For this reason, the control is
performed so that the position of the conveying direction aligning
portion 306 and the shift amount .gamma. are set so as to satisfy
the relation of C=D as much as possible.
[0079] Regarding two sheets S1 and S2 which are conveyed to the
position of FIG. 9A, the leading ends of the sheets S collide with
the aligning reference wall 402 by the conveying direction aligning
portion 401 after the pair of second conveying rollers 115
separates from each other, so that the sheets S1 and S2 are first
aligned in the conveying direction L (the left and right direction
in the drawing). Subsequently, the side ends of the sheets are
pressed by the width direction aligning portion 403 that performs
an aligning operation in the width direction M, so that the sheets
are aligned in the width direction M (the front and back direction
in the drawing). The aligning operation is performed based on the
tail ends of the sheets in the first embodiment, but the aligning
operation is performed based on the leading ends of the sheets in
the second embodiment. After a predetermined number of sheets are
aligned by repeating the aligning operation of the conveying
direction L and the aligning operation of the width direction M as
many as the number of sheets of the subsequent jobs, the leading
end of the sheet bundle is post-processed by a stapler (not
illustrated). The state of the sheets S having been subjected to
the post-processing becomes the state illustrated in FIG. 9B.
[0080] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 9C, the sheet bundle
having been subjected to the post-processing is discharged onto the
stack tray 404 after the aligning reference wall 402 retracts
upward as indicated by the arrow and the pair of second conveying
rollers 115 nipping the sheet bundle and the pair of discharge
rollers 119 are driven again.
[0081] As described above, in the embodiment, it is possible to
overlap the subsequent sheet S2 on the precedent sheet S1 while the
precedent sheet S1 advances by the shift amount .gamma. in the
conveying direction L. Even in the second embodiment, as in the
first embodiment, the positions of the precedent sheet S1 and the
subsequent sheet S2 are calculated based on the information
detected by the discharge sensor 112 which is positioned at the
upstream of the upper and lower rollers 115a and 115b independently
driven at the upper and lower positions, and the shift amount
.gamma. is formed by stopping the precedent sheet S1 once. For this
reason, the precision of the shift amount .gamma. may be
improved.
[0082] In this way, in the second embodiment, the same effect as
that of the first embodiment may be obtained. Further, when
aligning two sheets S in the conveying direction L, the sheets are
aligned based on the tail ends thereof in the first embodiment, but
the sheets may be aligned based on the leading ends thereof in the
second embodiment. When the sheets may be aligned based on the
leading ends thereof, the sheet post-processing device which is
provided as the downstream reference as in the sheet
post-processing mechanism 400 may be provided inside the apparatus
body 100. Accordingly, a decrease in the size of the sheet
post-processing device may be also realized compared to the first
embodiment.
[0083] According to the configuration of the first or second
embodiment, the precedent sheet S1 is stably conveyed by the
control in which the pair of second conveying rollers 115 is driven
again before the leading end of the subsequent sheet S2 reaches the
pair of second conveying rollers 115. As a result, even when there
is a variation in the shift amount .gamma. between the precedent
sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2 which are being conveyed, it
is possible to control the shift amount .gamma. of the sheets with
high precision.
[0084] Furthermore, the friction force F2 is not applied to the
precedent sheet S1 by the control in which the pair of second
conveying rollers 115 is driven again before the leading end of the
subsequent sheet S2 reaches the pair of second conveying rollers
115.
[0085] Further, according to the configuration of the first
embodiment, when the subsequent sheet S2 is overlapped on the
precedent sheet S1 while the shift amount is controlled with high
precision, the relation of A=B is satisfied with high precision.
Even in this configuration, when the sheet post-processing device
300 is disposed at the downstream side in the conveying direction
L, the aligning failure generated when aligning two sheets of the
precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2 may be
suppressed.
[0086] Furthermore, according to the configuration of the second
embodiment, when the subsequent sheet S2 is overlapped on the
precedent sheet S1 while the shift amount is controlled with high
precision, the relation of C=D is satisfied with high precision.
Even in this configuration, when the sheet post-processing
mechanism 400 is disposed at the upstream side in the conveying
direction L, the aligning failure generated when aligning two
sheets of the precedent sheet S1 and the subsequent sheet S2 may be
suppressed.
[0087] While the present invention has been described with
reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.
The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all modifications, equivalent
structures and functions.
[0088] This application is a National Stage Application of
PCT/JP2012/007765, which was filed on Dec. 4, 2012, and which
claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-270098,
filed Dec. 9, 2011, both of which are hereby incorporated by
reference herein in their entireties.
* * * * *